“Todos somos poetas,” or “we are all poets,” is a phrase Oakland-based poet Arnoldo Garcia often used to close his messages to participants of Poemas Móviles, a storytelling and poetry project El Tímpano created in collaboration with Garcia with and for the Bay Area’s Latino and Mayan immigrant communities.
At a moment when immigrants are facing heightened political attacks, economic pressure, and deep uncertainty, Poemas Móviles offers an accessible space for healing—a moment to pause, imagine, and create.
Through text messages, community members send us “micro-poems,” often written in the middle of everyday life: during morning coffee, on the bus to work, or while preparing dinner for their families. These poems explore love, grief, hope, humor, and memory, shared in both Spanish and Mam.
We launched Poemas Móviles last October with a simple invitation: “Write a haiku about a memory that autumn brings you.” The responses were filled with images of fallen leaves draping the ground, the smell of rain, and the sun’s early retreat in the afternoon.
READ THE AUTUMN HAIKUS
These poems reminded us how seasonal change can stir memories of places, life phases, and loved ones—experiences that transcend borders.
As Día de los Muertos approached, our next prompt asked participants to write a poem honoring the life of a loved one who had passed. The messages we received were tender offerings—small, altar-like poems sent directly from people’s phones. Participants shared memories of grandparents’ relentless wisdom and love, the unbreakable bonds between siblings, and the hope of being reunited one day. These poems remind us that memory keeps our loved ones alive across generations and lifetimes.
READ THE DAY OF THE DEAD POEMS
To close the year, we invited our poets to share something they were grateful for. Some wrote about simple pleasures: riding a bicycle, feeling rain on their skin, or taking a quiet moment in the middle of a busy day.
In these poems, grief became community. Memory became connection. And words became a way to honor the people we carry with us.
READ POEMS ABOUT GRATITUDE
Over the course of the three-month pilot, El Tímpano received 30 original poems from 16 community members from Oakland, Bay Point, Pittsburg and Richmond. Every poem sent to us—whether a haiku, a remembrance, or a note of gratitude—is an act of courage and creativity. Each one is a moment of grounding and belonging in a world that does not always make room for either.
In response to our gratitude poetry invitation, Elena sent El Tímpano a note of appreciation, “Sin ustedes no podríamos saber las cosas grandes y maravillosas por descubrir cada dia,” or “Without you we would not be able to discover great and wonderful things to be found every day.”
We intend to continue facilitating participatory poetry and creating those special moments in the daily lives of the Bay Area’s Latino and Mayan immigrant communities. While we will work with more local poets, Garcia’s words will continue to inspire and guide the initiative: we are all poets.
Read all of the poems produced through this project here.
